Heated Rivalry: TV Series

Rachel Reid's "Heated Rivalry" was one of my first MM books. I read it back in 2017/2018 near the time it came out. It's always been a favorite. It's a staff pick of mine at the bookstore I work at. 

When it was announced that they were making it into a TV series, I honestly expected it to be years before it came out. Instead, they filmed in 36 days on a tiny-ass budget and gave it to us in less than 6 months. I reread the first two books in the series, and I waited until it was all available to stream to watch it (and then a few more days because no one needs to watch this with their parents while on a family vacation). 

I am soooo incredibly proud that this series became so popular, that queer relationships are being talked about, that Rachel's book(s) is gaining a whole new crowd. I'm also sooo incredibly excited that all of these people are looking into other MM hockey books, because some of my favorite series/authors are MM hockey. It's...breathtaking. And it's a step towards more of these books/authors getting published through mainstream publishing (which means a larger audience and more money for the authors). 

I'll write below my play-by-play reactions below. Enjoy (I know I did).
*Idiots are already in love.
*Of course Shane wears socks during sex
*Enemies to lovers hook ups obviously means softness and sweetness.
*Major pro: plot point(s) brought over from page to screen: the writers really hit on their different stressors Shane and Ilya were under
*Enemies to lovers hook ups also obviously means soft smiles and teasing quips and inside jokes and texting nicknames
*Page to Screen change I loved: more Scott Hunter…and the fact that Scott Hunter seemed to know/understand our complicated boys
*Can confirm I’m incredibly fucking soft for this Ilya, too.
*Shane: I also cried when Ilya won the cup.
*Wasn’t necessarily here for Scott and Kip, liked their book plenty enough, but these two idiots still made me irrationally giddy
*Girl
*Shane with a baby would have made Ilya’s ovaries explode.
*Shane’s freckles.
*Ilya’s moles.
*Ilya’s Russian-vent made me cry.
*Connor and Hudson: I also carried when Scott and Kip kissed on the ice. Sobbed actually.
*Stupid Canadian wolf bird
*I tried really hard not to cry when Ilya was telling Shane about his mom. Might not have succeeded.
*Did cry when Shane and his mom talked
*Ending credits: fuck me, soft boys in love mess me up.
*Now trying not to cry because its over.

Overall thoughts:
*Me = giggling nonstop. I probably looked (slightly) deranged while watching this with how much I was smiling and smirking and fan-girl-leg-kicking.
*Connor and Hudson were perfect as Ilya and Shane. Perfect.
*I said “my sweet baby Shane” far too many times to be healthy.

I'll eventually reread the rest of the series. Hopefully we'll have season two within the next two years (one can only hope, but we all know that the more popular something becomes, the longer we have to wait).

Here's to finding your cottage, your stupid Canadian wolf bird, your not-so-rival. 

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